St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-05-15

"Well, what do You suppose those
women do to enjoy themselves without
man among them?" That question
was asked recently, and it has been re-
peated with more OF less variation by
very few men. for if the ladies are not
interested in male company the duller,
dryer and more stupid sex, as some dis
guSted gosSipS call their brothers.
uncleS and heauX, have still less interest
III their exclusive gatherings, politely
chriStened ladies receptionS.n But
the ladies are interested, and deeply in
tereSted, in the men''-indeed, so in
tereSted as to get up those little eXclu-
sive affairs for the express purpose of
their male acquaintance behind their
backs. True, THE men, is not the one
all-absorbing topic of the after
noon, for a swell young gentle
man who, not long ago was in
a position where he might
learn something, although at the risk of
notifying discovery and exposure.
gives the information that the ladies
soon Wearied of the men" and got to
talking about one anOther's toilets.
jewelry, face pOwder-certainly not in
the hearing of the dramatically dis
crlbed as third person '-and that even
remarks about light corsets," ''horrid
big bustles," ''Frenchy Shoes" and
other small matters, as to constitute
and interesting babel of tete-a-tetes.
However, these gatherings are going
rapidly out of faShiOn-fOr women do
want something where they may be adj
mired.
Now, however, the ''kaffe-klatch''-if
that's the right way to spell an outland-
ISh name for simple enough
the purpose of keeping up those
''ladies receptions" but modifying
them sufficiently to induce ladies to
come and participate of their own ac-
cord, rather than be driven to put up
with stagnant thing by social custom.
At the 'katfee-klatch'' the ladies enjoy
themselves in an alleged purely informal
way, bringing their knitting, crotch
citing, and embroidery along-anything
but plain seWing-and there the ladies
talk and knit, and knit and talk Just as
q bevy of farmers wives might do in the
old settled agricultural communities of
New York state. And that's just what
the "katfee-lkatch" apes. Here is an
effort. mighty and studied effort, to
be primitive. simple and social. Some
OF the mothers, or maybe the grand
mothers, of this generation would laugh
with superior sarcasm and amusement
to see their daughters studiouSly and so
earnestly endeaVor to mimic the ancient
ways of the good old danes whose jolly
laugh and pleasant chatter silenced
the soft clack of the knitting
needles, the while they made
heavy wooden seeks for their sturdy sons
and precious daughters. Yes, and
these new ways of doing old things
are so expensive that they must only
occur in great while at ones own
domicile.
Why, then, can't people be sociable?
Why not be sOciable because you feel
like it-not because you feel as if you
had to. Why not visit and talk and
work just as your mothers of revered
and loved memory used to do; and do it
their way with the same cheapnesS of
cost and delight of diversion? Thanks
to favored state, the lake season does
away with much of these old worn-out
formalitieS, for the people somehow
get closer together at the lakes and there
is a free Interchange of ways and opin-
ions among a Well-behaYed- aSsemblage
of persons, whose homes are widely sep
arated. Mere fOrmality has robbed this
city of much social enjoyment, and. if
this liberality be granted, the modest
SuSSCoiIOil 10 OuClCu Jllil TIC pdlGldrcIS
and matrons Of st. Paul society might
reflect upon this during their summer
rest i'll their cottages by the lakes.
-
After all, these ladies' receptions. not
WithStanding the above remarks, have
done much good. They have brought
the ladies of this city closer together.
and social ties have been made, which
could not have been otherwise in this
very formal age; and who can say but
that the social intercourse of the ladies
may have had much to do with
the mutual business success of their too
busy husbands. And there is an excuse
in this city for the exclusive ladies' re-
ception; the husbands are so busy buy
ing and selling goods and land, working
out great railroad problems, and devot-
ing their energies TO wonderful manu-
factoring industries, that they have re-
garded time spent in social matters as
lost, and have left the great business of
making a city agreeable and honorable
TO the wives, mothers and daughters of
this. the most busy and money-making
city OF America. What business has
been to the men-all ngrosSing-society
has been to the ladies; and, Gods bless
ing upon them, they are filing their
part in the affairs of life well. The
exclusive ladies' reception" is the
fault OF the men rather than that Of the
women